9. 


-A.N    ADDRESS 


COMMEMORATIVE  OF 


GENERAL  PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN, 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  NEW  YORK, 
AT  THE  CITY  OF  ALBANY,  APRIL  9,  1889, 


BY 


WAGER  SWAYNE. 


Bancroft  Library 


STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  (SENATE). 


IN  ASSEMBLY,  ) 

ALBANY,  January  10.  1889.) 


BY  ME.  CURTIS  : 


WHEREAS,  Philip  Henry  Sheridan,  a  native  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  General  commanding  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  recently 
died ;  and 

WHEREAS,  It  is  eminently  fitting  for  the  Legislature  to  take  for- 
mal action  to  give  expression  to  the  high  estimate  in  which  his 
services  are  held,  and  the  affectionate  regard  with  which  his  mem- 
ory is  cherished  by  all  the  people,  and  to  the  end  that  there  shall  be 
set  before  the  youth  the  native  qualities,  the  professional  education, 
the  self-training  and  discipline  by  which  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished military  captains  of  the  age  was  formed,  an  officer  who, 
passing  through  every  grade  of  the  military  service,  was  a  skillful 
tactician,  organizer  and  leader  of  battalions,  a  commander  in  the 
field  whose  inspiriting  magnetism  filled  weary  limbs  with  the  un- 
chilled  vigor  of  youth,  and  fainting  hearts  with  the  glow  and  deter- 
mination of  seizing  victory  in  the  decisive  charge  ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved  (if  the  Senate  concur),  That  a  joint  committee  of  five 
Senators  and  nine  Members  of  Assembly  be  appointed  by  the  pre- 
siding officers  of  the  respective  houses  to  arrange  for  fitting  joint 
memorial  services  in  commemoration  of  the  patriotic  citizen  and 
illustrious  soldier,  Philip  Henry  Sheridan. 

The  foregoing  resolution  was  duly  adopted,  and  Mr.  SPEAKER 
appointed  as  such  committee,  on  the  part  of  the  House,  Messrs. 
Curtis,  Batcheller.  Saxton,  Ainsworth,  Moffit,  Mead,  Martin,  Long- 
ley  and  Creamer. 

By  order  of  the  Assembly, 

C.  A.  CHICKERING, 
Clerk. 

Said  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  the  PRESIDENT 
appointed  as  such  committee,  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  Senators 
Vedder,  Murphy,  O'Connor,  Worth  and  Kellogg. 


WASHINGTON,  April  1st,  1889. 

GENERAL  N.  M.  CURTIS, 

Chairman  Joint  Committee  JV.  F.  Legislature  on  Sheridan 
Memorial  Services, 

Albany,  Jf.  Y. 
GENERAL : 

Through  the  courtesy  of  your  Committee  I  am  in  receipt  of  your 
invitation  for  myself  and  children  to  attend  the  services  to  be  held 
by  the  Legislature  of  New  York  in  memory  of  my  husband,  the  late 
General  Sheridan,  at  Albany,  April  9th.  It  is  with  extreme  regret 
that  I  am  obliged  to  say  we  cannot  be  present ;  illness  in  my  family 
preventing  all  possibility  of  our  taking  the  journey  to  Albany.  In 
our  absence,  however,  I  am  sure  the  memorial  services  will  be  none 
the  less  impressive  and  sincere,  so  in  advance  of  the  occasion  the 
widow  and  children  of  General  Sheridan  would  be  greatly  indebted 
to  you,  General,  should  you  at  an  appropriate  time,  convey  to  the 
Legislature  their  deepest  gratitude  for  this  official  and  sacred  recog- 
nition of  the  career  of  one  whose  entire  life  was  devoted  to  his 
country's  welfare. 
With  great  respect,  I  am 

Truly  yours, 

MRS.  PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN. 


SHERIDAN. 


There's  one  we  love  to  call  our  own, 

Renowned  by  sword  and  pen, 
His  plume  alone,  where  e'er  it  shone, 

Was  worth  ten  thousand  men ; 
'Twas  he,  snatched  victory  from  defeat, 

Our  hearts'  commander  still ; 
When  e'er  we  meet,  his  name  we'll  greet, 

Our  matchless  Little  Phil. 

[Col.  Archie  Hopkins.'} 

The  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  found  Sheridan  a 
First-Lieutenant  of  Infantry,  stationed  at  Yamhill,  Ore- 
gon— then  distant  two  months  journey  from  the  field 
of  war. 

Of  his  situation  there  he  says  : 

"  We  received  our  mail  at  Yamhill  once  a  week ;  on 
the  day  that  our  courier  or  messenger  was  expected, 
*  *  *  I  would  go  out  early  in  the  morning  to  a  com- 
manding point  *  *  *  and  there  I  would  watch 
with  anxiety  for  his  corning,  longing  for  good  news ; 
for,  isolated  as  I  had  been  through  years  spent  in  the 
wilderness,  my  patriotism  was  untainted  by  politics, 
nor  had  it  been  disturbed  by  any  discussions  of  the 
questions  out  of  which  the  war  grew,  and  I  hoped  for 
the  success  of  the  Government  before  all  other  consid- 
ations,  I  •  *  *  out  of  a  sincere  desire  to  contribute 
as  much  as  I  could  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  I 
earnestly  wished  to  be  at  the  seat  of  war,  I 

was  young,  healthy  and  insensible  to  fatigue,  and  de- 
sired opportunity,  but  high  rank  was  so  distant  in  our 
service  that  not  a  dream  of  its  attainment  had  flitted 
through  my  brain." 

His  first  assignment  to  command  of  troops  was  May 
25,  1862,  when  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  2d 


Michigan  Cavalry,  then  stationed  at  Corinth,  Missis- 
sippi. His  earlier  service,  since  he  was  brought  East 
the  September  previous,  had  been  as  Commissary  and  as 
Quartermaster.  He  was  at  Corinth  at  the  time  of  his 
appointment,  having  been  with  Halleck's  army  in  its 
movement  to  that  place  from  Pittsburg  Landing,  a 
movement  which  had  occupied  the  previous  six  weeks. 

The  army  which  made  this  advance  comprised  nearly 
one  hundred  thousand  men.  The  place  in  it  assigned 
to  Sheridan  was  as  Staff  Quartermaster — to  remove 
the  headquarters  when  directed — and  as  Staff  Com- 
missary, to  provide  the  escort  with  rations  and  the 
officers  with  supplies. 

The  idea  of  Sheridan  there,  assigned  to  no  duty  but 
the  care  of  General  Halleck's  headquarters,  is  sug- 
gestive of  strange  contrast.  It  was  this  same  Sheridan — 
desiring  opportunity,  but  not  dreaming  of  high  com- 
mand— to  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote,  within  the  next 
three  years  :— 

"  For  the  personal  gallantry,  military  skill,  and  just 
confidence  in  the  courage  and  patriotism  of  your  troops, 
displayed  by  you  on  the  19th  day  of  October,  at  Cedar 
Bun,  whereby,  under  the  blessing  of  Providence,  your 
routed  army  was  reorganized,  a  great  National  disaster 
averted,  and  a  brilliant  victory  achieved  over  the 
rebels,  for  the  third  time  within  thirty  days,  Philip  H. 
Sheridan  is  appointed  a  Major-General  in  the  Regular 
Army." 

He  was  again  in  the  far  West  and  crossing  the  plains 
with  an  escort,  when  a  courier  brought  him  word  that 
the  President  had  nominated  him  to  be  Lieutenant- 
Gen  eral.  He  read  the  dispatch,  and  turning  to  his 
Staff  Officers  said  :  "  Boys,  you  will  have  to  address 


me  as  Lieutenant-General,  now  !  "  Their  hats  ali  went 
up  at  once. 

He  lay  on  his  death- bed  :  when  word  came  to  him 
that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States — reviving  in 
his  honor  the  discontinued  grade  of  General  of  the 
Army — had  crowned  him  with  the  last  reserve  of 
military  rank. 

After  deducting  for  all  happy  accident,  the  fact  re- 
mains that  of  two  millions  of  men,  culled  from  a  people 
who  abounded  in  every  quality  of  excellence,  called  into 
the  field  from  the  North,  three  men,  Grant,  Sherman, 
Sheridan,  beyond  all  others,  made  themselves  admired 
and  dear  to  the  armies  and  the  people  of  the  nation. 
Comparison  between  these  is  not  simply  inappropriate  ; 
it  is  not  merely  impracticable  ;  it  is  arrested  011  the 
threshold  by  the  common  ties  and  strong  affection  of 
the  three  which  come  in  to  remind  us  that  invidious 
preferences  between  them  are  precisely  what  he  who 
survives  of  them  would  most  dislike,  and  that  in  this 
he  shares  the  feeling,  as  he  does  the  glory,  of  the  dead. 
The  voice  of  the  people  is,  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan. 
It  is  the  voice  of  the  people,  and  it  is  enough. 

The  youngest  of  these  three,  latest  in  prominent 
command,  so  met  and  dealt  with  the  emergencies  of 
war  that  neither  mistake  nor  quarrel  or  defeat  ever 
wasted  the  forces  of  his  country  or  impeded  the  zeal  of 
their  employment.  Nature  had  given  him  the  qualities 
essential  to  a  selfish  excellence.  He  added  to  them 
such  as  to  win  affection  and  command  respect.  The 
personal  ascendancy  resulting  made  his  whole  command 
only  himself  enlarged,  and  where  he  willed  it  went  with 
all  his  will,  and  did  what  in  their  place  he  would  have 
done.  This  made  his  personality,  of  course,  as  great 


6 

as  the  command  at  any  time  entrusted  to  him,  and 
made  his  military  service  a  distinct  and  priceless  con- 
tribution to  the  welfare  of  the  country. 

It  is  the  lesson  of  this  life  that  we  are  here  to  learn. 
He  was  born  here  in  Albany  March  6th,  1831.  Because 
of  this  fact,  and  because  of  the  high  estimate  in  which 
his  services  are  held,  and  the  affectionate  regard  with 
which  his  memory  is  cherished,  the  People  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  represented  by  their  Senate  and  Assembly, 
with  the  approving  and  concurring  presence  of  their 
Governor  and  their  Appellate  Judges,  are  here  with  us, 
and  are  here,  as  the  resolution  controlling  me  states, 
to  the  end  that  his  memory  be  honored,  and  his  quali- 
ties— their  education  and  discipline,  their  operation  and 
value — be  set  before  the  youth ;  the  man  himself  revived 
in  their  remembrance  and  our  own. 

The  lesson  begins  early.  At  fourteen  years,  he  was 
clerk  in  a  country  store  in  a  village  in  Ohio.  His  serv- 
ices were  in  demand ;  and  his  leisure  was  made  to 
yield  increase  of  intelligence.  Twice  in  two  years  he 
was  promoted  to  a  different  master,  and  to  double 
wages. 

The  strongest  interest  of  that  day  was  the  existing 
war  with  Mexico.  It  was  of  doubtful  right  and  conse- 
quence, and  the  secluded  people  of  a  country  village 
had  time  to  discuss  it  warmly.  They  often  referred 
their  disputes  to  the  best  authority  at  hand,  the  boy 
not  yet  of  sixteen  years,  who  was  already  bookkeeper 
of  an  extensive  store. 

Directly  from  this  situation  may  be  traced,  with 
growing  plainness,  those  things  in  him,  and  their  growth 
also,  which  gave  him  victory  in  the  utmost  exigencies 


of  his  later  life  and  made  him  equal  to  its  broadest 
scope. 

The  situation  in  itself  was  not  uncommon  for  a  youth, 
nor  the  things  done  in  it  beyond  the  reach  of  ordinary 
powers.  Emerson,  however,  says  somewhere,  that  if 
one  does  things  well,  though  his  home  be  in  a  wilder- 
ness, a  beaten  path  will  bye  and  bye  be  trodden  to  his 
door. 

A  little  village  in  Ohio  is  not  a  conspicuous  arena 
for  well-doing,  nor  are  the  duties  of  a  country  store  of 
a  heroic  character  ;  yet  what  Sheridan  did  in  that  store 
and  the  life  he  led  in  that  village  did  both  lead  the  way 
and  make  the  way  for  all  his  subsequent  achievements. 
He  was  without  influence  or  social  standing,  yet  his 
own  mere  letter  to  his  Congressman  brought  back  by 
return  mail  an  appointment  to  West  Point  for  the 
youth  whose  qualities  were  known.  It  was  these 
qualities,  in  turn,  which  made  at  once  the  man  and  his 
career. 

The  qualities  themselves  arose  and  grew  out  of  his 
sympathy  with  every  part  of  any  life  with  which  he  was 
concerned.  Again  and  again  throughout  his  life  this 
shows  itself  in  great  things  and  in  small,  a  sympathy 
too  strong  to  rest  in  contemplation,  too  faithful  to 
abide  with  the  unreal,  and  too  earnest  to  stop  short  of 
the  last  attainable  result. 

In  the  country  store  at  Somerset  he  cared  enough  for 
his  work  to  do  it  in  a  way  that  made  his  services  com- 
peted for.  He  cared  enough  for  his  country  to  study  its 
history  with  care.  Its  war  with  Mexico  aroused  his 
interest  till  his  sole  wish,  as  he  writes,  was  to  become  a 
a  soldier,  and  this  sent  him  to  West  Point. 

Probably   this   expresses   the   whole    situation.     He 


8 

was  not  straining  after  what  he  might  some  day  become, 
he  was  simply  intent  upon  what  he  might  do  now.  He 
did  not  enter  West  Point  or  commence  duty  with  his 
company,  looking  upon  either  as  a  mere  staging  from 
which  to  build.  Each  was  to  him.  a  story  to  be  built, 
and  for  the  time  worthy  of  exclusive  care.  Probably  it 
was  this  absorption  in  the  things  at  hand  that  made 
the  things  at  hand  of  such  absorbing  interest  to  him. 

His  earliest  military  service  was  with  a  company  of 
infantry  upon  the  Eio  Grande.  That  country  was  un- 
settled and  almost  unknown,  and  filled  with  Indians  and 
wild  animals.  Its  newness  appealed  to  him,  and  his 
responsive  interest  led  him  to  make  maps  of  it  in  all 
directions.  The  Indians  spoke  a  different  language 
from  his  own  ;  they  interested  him  enough  to  make  him 
learn  that  language.  The  presence  of  game  invited  him 
to  hunt,  and  hunting  interested  him  enough  to  make 
him  the  purveyor  of  fresh  meat  for  the  command ;  not 
stopping  with  the  mere  pursuit  of  game,  but  learning 
all  their  habits  and  the  ways  of  taking  them  ;  even  the 
colors  of  the  birds  became  the  subject  of  keen  study, 
until  crowded  out  by  graver  matters.  The  novelty  of 
winter  quarters  sent  him  thirty  miles  across  the  prairies 
with  a  wagon  to  fetch  poles  to  build  a  hut  with  fire- 
place and  chimney,  though  exposure  to  the  weather 
was  habitual  with  him  ;  and,  above  all  things,  his  inter- 
est in  the  men  whom  he  commanded  made  him,  from 
first  to  last,  their  faithful  and  devoted  servant,  although 
none  the  less  their  absolute  commander. 

"  Sympathy,"  says  Fichte,  "  is  the  secret  of  all  in- 
sight ; "  and  again  and  again  this  sympathy  and  in- 
sight crowned  the  faithfulness  of  Sheridan  with  glory 
and  success.  It  is  worth  while  to  trace  it  in  the  way 


he  speaks  of  his  relations  with  the  men,  and  notice  how 
his  heart  was  with  them  always,  and  their  hearts,  in 
turn,  were  his  ;  and  out  of  this  came  that  which  made 
him  Sheridan. 

In  Oregon  he  was  for  many  months  in  charge  of  a  de- 
tachment of  dragoons,  and  of  these  men  he  writes  : 

"  When  I  relieved  Hood — a  dragoon  officer  of  their 
own  regiment —they  did  not  like  the  change,  and  I 
understood  that  they  somewhat  contemptuously  ex- 
pressed this  in  more  ways  than  one,  in  order  to  try  the 
temper  of  the  new  "  Leftenant,"  but  appreciative  and 
unremitting  care,  together  with  firm  and  just  discipline, 
soon  quieted  all  symptoms  of  dissatisfaction  and  over- 
came all  prejudice.  The  detachment  had  been  made 
up  of  details  from  the  different  companies  of  the  regi- 
ment in  order  to  give  Williamson  a  mounted  force,  and 
as  it  was  usual,  under  such  circumstance  for  every  com- 
pany commander  to  shove  into  the  detail  he  was  called 
upon  to  furnish  the  most  troublesome  and  insubordinate 
individuals  of  his  company,  I  had  some  difficulty,  when 
first  taking  command,  in  controlling  such  a  medley  of 
recalcitrants  ;  but  by  forethought  for  them  and  their 
wants,  and  a  strict  watchfulness  for  their  rights  and 
comfort,  I  was  able  in  a  short  time  to  make  them 
obedient  and  the  detachment  cohesive.  In  the  past 
year  they  had  made  long  and  tiresome  marches,  forded 
swift  mountain  streams,  constructed  rafts  of  logs  or 
bundles  of  dry  reeds  to  ferry  our  baggage,  swum  deep 
rivers,  marched  on  foot  to  save  their  worn  out  and  ex- 
hausted animals,  climbed  mountains,  fought  Indians,  and 
in  all  and  everything  had  done  the  best  they  could  for 
the  service  and  their  commander.  The  disaffected  feel- 
ing they  entertained  when  I  first  assumed  command 
soon  wore  away,  and  in  its  place  came  a  confidence  and 
respect  which  it  gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  re- 
member, for  small  though  it  was  this  was  my  first 
cavalry  command.  They  little  thought,  when  we  were 
in  the  mountains  of  California  and  Oregon,  nor  did  I 
myself  then  dream  that  but  a  few  years  were  to  elapse 
before  it  would  be  my  lot  again  to  command  dragoons, 
this  time  in  numbers  so  vast  as  of  themselves  to  com- 
pose almost  an  army." 


10 

In  the  same  spirit  with  these  remarks  he  writes  of 
that  Michigan  regiment  which  was  his  first  command  in 
the  war  : 

"  Although  but  a  few  days  had  elapsed  from  the 
date  of  my  appointment  as  Colonel  of  the  Second  Mich- 
igan to  that  of  my  succeeding  to  the  command  of  the 
brigade,  I  believe  I  can  say  with  propriety  that  I  had 
firmly  established  myself  in  the  confidence  of  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  regiment,  and  won  their  regard  by 
thoughtful  care.  I  had  striven  unceasingly  to  have 
them  well  fed  and  well  clothed,  had  personally  looked 
after  the  selection  of  their  camps,  and  had  maintained 
such  a  discipline  as  to  allay  former  irritation. 

"  Men  who  march,  scout  and  fight,  and  suffer  all  the 
hardships  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  soldiers  in  the  field,  in 
order  to  do  vigorous  work  must  have  the  best  bodily 
sustenance,  and  every  comfort  that  can  be  provided.  I 
knew  from  practical  experience  on  the  frontier  that  my 
efforts  in  this  direction  would  not  only  be  appreciated, 
but  requited  by  personal  affection  and  gratitude  ;  and 
further  that  such  exertions  would  bring  the  best  re- 
sults to  me.  Whenever  my  authority  would  permit  I 
saved  my  command  from  needless  sacrifices  and  un- 
necessary toil  ;  therefore,  when  hard  or  daring  work 
was  to  be  done  I  expected  the  heartiest  response,  and 
always  got  it.  Soldiers  are  averse  to  seeing  their  com- 
rades killed  without  compensating  results,  and  none 
realize  more  quickly  than  they  the  blundering  that 
often  takes  place  on  the  field  of  battle.  They  want 
some  tangible  indemnity  for  the  loss  of  life,  and  as 
victory  is  an  offset  the  value  of  which  is  manifest,  it  not 
only  makes  them  content  to  shed  their  blood,  but  also 
furnishes  evidence  of  capacity  in  those  who  command 
them.  My  regiment  had  lost  very  few  men  since  com- 
ing under  my  command,  but  it  seemed,  in  the  eyes  of 
all  who  belonged  to  it,  that  casualties  to  the  enemy  and 
some  slight  successes  for  us  had  repaid  every  sacrifice, 
and  in  consequence  I  had  gained  not  only  their  con- 
fidence as  soldiers,  but  also  their  esteem  and  love  as 
men,  and  to  a  degree  far  beyond  what  I  then  realized." 

When  he  was  ordered  from  the  West  to  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  his  whole  command  was  gathered  on  the 


11 

hillside   to   bid   him    a   last  adieu  as  his  train  took  its 
departure.     He  himself  tells  us  why  this  was  : 

"  In  Kentucky,  nearly  two  years,  before  my  lot  had 
been  cast  with  about  half  of  the  twenty-five  regiments 
of  infantry  that  I  was  just  leaving,  the  rest  joining  me 
after  Chickarnauga.  It  was  practically  a  new  arm  of 
the  service  to  me,  for  although  I  was  an  infantry  officer, 
yet  the  only  large  command  which  up  to  that  time  I 
had  controlled  was  composed  of  cavalry,  and  most  of 
my  experience  had  been  gained  in  this  arm  of  the 
service.  I  had  to  study  hard  to  be  able  to  master  all 
the  needs  of  such  a  force,  to  feed  and  clothe  it  and 
guard  all  its  interests.  When  undertaking  these  re- 
sponsibilities I  felt  that  if  I  met  them  faithfully  rec- 
ompense would  surely  come  through  the  hearty  re- 
sponse that  soldiers  always  make  to  conscientious 
exertion  on  the  part  of  their  superiors,  and  nqt  only 
that  more  could  be  gained  in  that  way  than  from  the 
use  of  any  species  of  influence,  but  that  the  reward 
would  be  quicker.  Therefore,  I  always  tried  to  look 
after  their  comfort  personally,  selected  their  camps 
and  provided  abundantly  for  their  subsistence,  and  the 
road  they  opened  for  me  shows  that  my  work  was  not 
in  vain." 

So  of  the  termination  of  that  famous  ride  from  Win- 
chester to  Cedar  Creek  he  says  : 

"  At  Mill  Creek  my  escort  fell  in  behind  and  we  were 
going  ahead  at  a  regular  pace,  when  just  as  we 
made  the  crest  of  the  rise  beyond  the  stream,  there 
burst  upon  our  view  the  appalling  spectacle  of  a  panic- 
stricken  army.  *  *  *  My  first  thought  was  to  stop 
the  army  in  the  suburbs  of  Winchester  as  it  came  back, 
form  a  new  line  and  fight  there  ;  but  as  the  situation 
was  more  maturely  considered,  a  better  conception  pre- 
vailed. I  was  sure  the  troops  had  confidence  in  me, 
for  heretofore  we  had  been  successful ;  and  as  at  other 
times  they  had  seen  me  present  at  the  slightest  sign  of 
trouble  or  distress,  I  felt  I  ought  now  to  try  to  restore 
their  broken  ranks,  or,  failing  in  that  to  share  their 
fate  because  of  what  they  had  done  hitherto." 

In  September,  1886,   in   a  little   speech   made   at   a 


12 

soldiers'  reunion,  held  at  Creston,  Iowa,  he  expressed 
more  plainly  than  ever  his  own  view  of  his  relation  to 
the  men  of  his  command  : 

"  I  want  to  say  to  you,  comrades,  this,  that  I  am 
indebted  to  the  private  soldier  for  all  of  this  credit  that 
has  come  to  me.  He  is  the  man  who  did  the  fighting, 
and  the  man  who  carried  the  musket  is  the  greatest 
hero  of  the  war,  in  my  opinion.  I  was  nothing  but 
an  agent.  I  knew  how  to  take  care  of  men,  I  knew 
what  a  soldier  was  worth,  and  I  knew  how  to  study  the 
country  so  as  to  put  him  in  the  right.  I  knew 
how  to  put  him  in  a  battle  when  one  occurred, 
but  I  was  simply  the  agent  to  take  care  of  him ; 
he  did  the  work.  Now,  comrades,  these  are 
common  sense  things,  and  I  can't  say  them  in  very  flow- 
ing language,  but  they  are  true  nevertheless,  and  they 
are  true  not  of  me  alone,  but  of  everbod}7  else.  It  is  to 
the  common  soldier  that  we  are  indebted  for  any  credit 
that  came  to  us.  There  are  many  men  here 

to-day  who  served  in  the  field  with  me,  and  it  is  a  great 
pleasure  to  me  to  find  them  out,  and  they  have  been 
very  kindly  in  their  remarks  to  me.  While  they  were 
with  me,  I  certainly  did  all  I  could  for  them.  I  often 
laid  awake  planning  for  their  welfare,  and  I  never 
killed  a  man  unnecessarily.  You  may  kill  as  many 
men  as  you  choose,  if  you  give  them  an  equivalent  for 
the  loss.  Men  do  not  like  to  be  killed  for  nothing. 
They  do  not  like  to  have  their  heads  rammed  against  a 
stone  wall,  unless  for  some  good  result.  *  *  * 
Whenever  I  took  men  into  battle,  I  gave  them  victory 
as  the  result  of  the  engagement,  and  that  was  always 
satisfactory." 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  General  Grant  wrote  of  this 
man  : 

"As4 a  commander  of  troops,  as  a  man  capable  of 
doing  all  that  is  possible  with  any  number  of  men, 
there  is  no  man  living  greater  than  Sheridan.  I  rank 
him  with  Napoleon  and  the  great  captains  of  history. 
He  had  a  magnetic  quality  of  swaying  men  which  I 
wish  I  had." 

Once  only  he  is  known  to  have  stopped  to  ask  if  that 


13 

which  must  be  done  must  needs  be  done  at  once.  On 
the  eve  of  that  grand  review  at  Washington  with 
which  the  war  was  closed,  he  was  ordered  to  start  for 
Texas.  That  meant  that  he  should  never  lead  his 
old  command  again.  There  was  no  help  for  it,  and  he 
left  the  capital  two  days  before  the  grand  review. 

In  the  same  way  his  familiar  interest  in  men  made 
him  unerring  in  the  choice  of  scouts. 

He  says  of  himself,  when  ordered  from  Corinth  to 
Louisville  to  join  Buell's  army  : 

"  Before  and  during  the  activity  which  followed  his 
reinstatement  General  Grant  had  become  familiar  with 
my  services  through  the  transmission  to  Washington 
of  information  I  had  furnished  concerning  the  enemy's 
movements,  and  by  reading  reports  of  my  lights  and 
skirmishes  in  front,  and  he  seemed  loth  to  let  me  go." 

The  following,  written  of  him  at  a  later  date,  doubt- 
less expresses  the  view  of  General  Grant : 

"  His  scouts  were  famous  throughout  the  army,  and 
their  information  was  exact ;  it  was  always  relied  upon 
by  Grant  as  absolute,  and  it  never  deceived  him." 

The  result  of  this  was,  that  whoever  fought  him  must 
do  so  without  any  concealment  of  the  force  about  to  be 
employed  or  of  the  time  and  manner  of  attack. 

His  dealings  with  these  men  were  in  sympathetic  in- 
terest not  unlike  his  dealings  with  his  troops,  and  their 
intrepid  faithfulness  was  his  reward. 

After  the  war,  in  his  smaller  commands  the  same  so- 
licitude for  his  men  is  continued,  and  with  the  same 
result.  In  December,  1868,  from  his  camp  out  on 
the  plains,  he  wrote  to  General  Sherman  : 

"  We  have  had  fearful  storms,  for  a  day  or  two,  with 


14 

snow.  Some  of  the  men  burned  out  their  boots  during 
the  cold  weather  and  substituted  nose-bags.  When  the 
trains  come  in  we  will  have  shoes  for  them.  The  com- 
mand is  in  high  spirits  and  enthusiastic  ;  everybody  in 
good  humor  and  jolly. 

"  Please  tell  Tommy  I  have  a  small-sized  Indian 
pony  for  him  which  I  hope  to  get  in.  He  is  a  buster, 
and  very  gentle." 

He  wrote  to  General  Sherman,  also,  when  the  latter 
was  just  starting  off  for  Europe,  in  November,  1871  : 

"If  you  can  occasionally  drop  me  a  line  it  will  give 
me  so  much  pleasure.  *  *  *  I  will  stick  close  to 
my  duties  here  and  will  endeavor  to  make  things  go 
straight  enough  to  give  you  no  uneasiness  so  far  as  I 
am  concerned." 

General  Pope  also  lately  wrote  of  him : 

"  In  1870  I  was  brought  into  intimate  official  and 
personal  relations  with  him,  which  lasted  without  in- 
terruption for  fourteen  years.  *  _  *  *  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  the  close  friendship  and  intimacy  which  marked 
our  association  almost  from  the  beginning  remained 
unimpaired  to  the  day  of  his  death.  In  his  private 
life  he  was  as  simple  as  a  child,  and  found  the  happiest 
part  of  it  in  his  home  with  his  delightful  wife  and 
children,  whom  he  loved  with  an  unusual  tenderness. 
He  was  hospitable  to  a  degree,  and  his  house  was  al- 
ways a  resort  of  his  army  friends,  and  indeed  of  anybody 
who  knew  him.  Naturally  he  was  a  man  of  strong 
feelings  and  convictions ;  and  I  suppose  he  thought 
himself  capable  of  equally  strong  hatred,  but  although 
I  have  known  him  to  say  severe  things  about  individual 
people,  I  do  not  believe  he  ever  cherished  animosity 
toward  any  human  being.  Towards  the  officers  and 
soldiers  under  his  command  he  was  always  kind  and 
considerate,  and  to  their  comfort  and  welfare  always 
alive.  He  could  always  be  relied  on  to  sustain  his 
subordinates  in  any  well-meant  action,  even  against  the 
highest  officials  of  the  Government ;  and  his  troops  had 
that  confidence  in  him  and  reliance  on  him  which  is 
half  the  battle  in  the  administration  of  a  great  military 
command.  There  never  was  a  commander  more  popu- 
lar, nor  one  that  has  been  more  regretted.  In  any  of 


15 

the  great  kingdoms  of  Europe,  with  the  constant  oppor- 
tunities they  offer  for  military  careers,  Sheridan  would 
have  been  a  foremost  figure  in  the  military  hierarchy  of 
the  world." 

If  this  all-pervading  sympathy  and  its  reciprocal 
good- will,  with  their  abundant  fruit,  had  been  the  un- 
impeded course  of  a  strong  nature  that  was  nothing  but 
congenial,  we  should  have  to  class  that  nature  as  par- 
taking of  the  supernatural,  and  should  find  less  in  it  to 
encourage  youth  or  quicken  men.  The  truth  is  oppo- 
site to  this.  The  boy  was  a  natural  boy,  full  of  strong 
impulse,  often  uncontrolled.  The  wife  of  General 
Sherman  had  her  early  education  in  a  convent  nearly 
across  the  street  from  the  house  in  which  the  schoolboy 
Sheridan  lived.  She  often  spoke  of  the  two  little  boys, 
his  brother  and  himself,  whose  pranks  she  vividly  re- 
membered. He  tells  us  himself  he  was  familiar  with 
the  game  called  "  playing  hookey,"  and  that  the  inci- 
dental aspects  of  that  fascinating  occupation  were  not 
absent  from  his  case. 

There  must  have  been  a  struggle  when  these  things 
gave  way  before  the  sturdy  industry  that  won  increase 
of  wages  in  the  store  and  the  bookkeeper's  faithful  ac- 
curacy. 

His  stay  at  West  Point  showed  again  what  he  had 
in  his  nature  to  contend  with.  A  fellow-cadet  in  the 
course  of  duty  gave  him  an  affront.  He  started  at 
once  to  bayonet  the  offender.  Self-control  came  in 
time  to  prevent  this,  but  had  not  force  enough  to  keep 
him  from  attacking  with  his  fists.  This  cost  him  nine 
months'  suspension  and  postponed  his  graduation  for 
a  year. 

In  pleasant  contrast  with  this  last,   it   may  be   told 


16 

that  in  his  later  life,  at  Washington,  at  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  Army,  there  hung  up  in  his  private  room  a 
portrait  of  himself,  which  his  wife  did  not  admire.  He 
declined  to  reconsider  his  conclusion  to  send  that 
picture  to  an  exhibition  in  New  York,  to  which  he  had 
been  asked  to  send  a  portrait  of  himself.  It  was  at 
breakfast  the  matter  came  up,  and  was  disposed  of  with 
a  word  or  two.  That  morning  Mrs.  Sheridan  rode  with 
the  General  to  headquarters  to  "  do  a  little  shopping  " 
in  the  neighborhood.  She  shopped  for  a  little  black 
paint,  and  the  General  being  at  that  hour  elsewhere, 
she  had  the  picture  taken  down,  and  painted  out  the 
face.  Telling  the  horrified  attendant  simply  to  say  that 
she  had  done  it,  she  finished  up  her  shopping.  Din- 
ner passed  cheerfully  without  the  slightest  reference  to 
the  occurrence.  Nor  was  it  ever  mentioned  after- 
wards, except  that  four  years  later,  in  discussing  some 
paintings,  the  General  remarked,  with  a  twinkle  in  his 
eye,  "  By  the  way,  Irene,  you  are  something  of  a 
painter  yourself?" 

The  army  opposed  to  Halleck's  march  on  Corinth 
was  known  to  be  not  more  than  half  as  large  as  his 
own.  There  was  never  any  serious  resistance,  and 
Corinth  when  reached  was  found  empty.  The  distance 
traversed  was  only  twenty  miles  over  a  country  not 
unfavorable,  yet  this  one  hundred  thousand  men  "  con- 
sumed," as  Sherman  says,  "  all  of  the  month  of  May, 
the  most  beautiful  and  valuable  month  of  the  year  for 
campaigning  in  this  latitude ;  we  fortified  almost  every 
camp  at  night,  although  we  had  encountered  no  opposi- 
tion except  from  cavalry,  which  gave  ground  easily  as 
we  advanced." 

The  over  caution  and  snail's  pace  of  this  advance 


17 

galled   even  the   private  soldiers    of    that   army,    and 
evoked  both  ridicule  and  criticism  ;  but  Sheridan  has 
no  complaint  to  make. 
He  writes : 

"  My  stay  at  General  Halleck's  headquarters  was  ex- 
ceedingly agreeable,  and  my  personal  intercourse  with 
officers  on  duty  there  was  not  only  pleasant  and  in- 
structive, but  offered  opportunities  of  instruction  and 
adyancement  for  which  hardly  any  other  post  could 
have  afforded  like  chances.  My  special  duties  did  not 
occupy  all  my  time,  and  whenever  possible  I  used  to 
go  over  to  General  Sherman's  division,  which  held  the 
extreme  right  of  our  line  in  the  advance  on  Corinth,  to 
witness  the  little  engagements  occurring  there  continu- 
ously during  the  slow  progress  which  the  army  was 
then  making,  the  enemy  being  forced  back  but  a  short 
distance  each  day." 

Within  the  next  three  months  this  industrious  infantry 
captain  had  with  eight  hundred  cavalry  defeated  six 
times  their  number,  and  with  that  introduction  ushered 
in  his  crowd  of  victories. 

It  was  he  also  of  whom  General  Grant  wrote  : 

"  he,  in  fifteen  days,  passed  entirely  round  Lee's  army ; 
encountered  his  cavalry  in  four  engagements  and  de- 
feated him  in  all  ;  recaptured  four  hundred  Union  pris- 
oners and  killed  and  captured  many  of  the  enemy  ; 
destroyed  and  used  many  supplies  and  munitions  of 
war,  destroyed  miles  of  railroad  and  telegraph,  and 
freed  us  from  annoyances  by  the  cavalry  of  the  enemy 
for  more  than  two  weeks." 

His  first  fight  was  at  Booneville,  Mississippi,  where 
he  was  on  outpost  duty  with  two  regiments  of  cavalry, 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven  (827)  men.  The  cav- 
alry force  which  attacked  him  were  between  five  and 
six  thousand.  A  few  hours  later  they  were  scattered, 
leaving  him  master  of  the  field. 

It  was  after  this  single  battle  that  Rosecrans  and  his 


18 

other  superior  officers  applied  at  once  for  his  promo- 
tion, saying  over  their  signatures  that  he  was  "  worth 
his  weight  in  gold." 

His  weight,  by  the  way,  was  scarcely  enough  for  a 
woman.  He  speaks  of  himself  as  he  stood  before  the  Sec- 
retary of  War,  when  he  came  East  to  join  the  Arrny  of 
the  Potomac  :  "  I  was  rather  young  in  appearance, 
"  looking  even  under  rather  than  over  thirty -three  years 
"  — but  five  feet  five  inches  in  height,  and  weighing  only 
"  one  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds." 

His  body  however,  was,  so  long  that  when  on  horse- 
back he  presented  the  appearance  of  a  man  six  feet 
two. 

His  head,  also,  was  of  such  a  shape  that  the  ease 
with  which  his  hat  came  off  had  given  him  the  habit  of 
frequently  riding  with  it  in  his  hand,  and  so  of  using  it 
for  gesture  on  occasion. 

It  was  not,  however,  merely  for  the  fight  at  Boone- 
ville  that  promotion  came  to  him  immediately.  Their 
recommendation  says : 

"  His  Ripley  expedition  has  brought  us  captured  let- 
ters of  immense  value,  as  well  as  prisoners,  snowing  the 
rebel  plans  and  dispositions,  as  you  will  learn  from  Dis- 
trict Commanders." 

We  have  seen  already  how  upon  the  plains  he 
was  the  hunter  and  geographer  of  the  command. 
"  It  always  came  rather  easy  to  me,"  he  writes,  "  to 
"  learn  the  geography  of  a  new  section,  and  its 
"  important  topographical  features  as  well."  "  As  soon 
"  as  possible,"  he  writes  of  himself  at  Booneville,  "  I 
"  compiled  for  the  use  of  myself  and  my  regimental 
"  commanders  an  information  map  of  the  surrounding 
"  country.  This  map  exhibited  such  detail  as  country 


19 

"  roads,  streams,  farm  houses,  fields,  woods  and  swamps, 
"  and  such  other  topographical  features  as  would  be 
"  useful." 

How  vast  the  service  which  this  habit  rendered  after- 
wards to  the  country  and  himself  is  seen  in  his  report 
to  the  Committee  on  the  conduct  of  the  war. 

"  After  careful  study  of  the  topography  of  the  country 
from  the  Rapidan  to  Richmond,  which  is  of  thickly 
wooded  character,  its  numerous  and  almost  parallel 
streams  nearly  all  uniting,  forming  the  York  River, 
I  took  up  the  idea  that  our  cavalry  ought  to  fight  the 
enemy's  cavalry,  and  our  infantry  the  enemy's  infantry." 

The  result  of  this  knowledge  of  the  country,  at  once 
intimate  and  practical,  was,  of  course,  that  whoever 
fought  him  had  not  only  as  we  have  seen  to  meet  him 
fully  prepared,  but  also  to  fight  him  where  he  was  per- 
fectly at  home. 

The  same  fullness  of  knowledge  extended  to  the  pro- 
curing, handling  and  distribution  of  supplies.  His 
early  training  as  bookkeeper  had  doubtless  made  him 
efficient  both  as  Quartermaster  and  as  Commissary,  and 
his  experience  in  both  departments  many  a  time,  no 
doubt,  assisted  him  in  caring  for  his  men  as  he  so 
loved  to  do. 

In  this  connection  it  is  pleasant  to  know  that,  fa- 
miliar as  he  was  with  all  arms  of  the  service,  and  prac- 
tically experienced  in  both  staff  departments,  while 
visiting  Europe  in  1870  to  observe  the  Franco-Prussian 
war  he  wrote  back  from  Barleduc,  France,  then  the 
Headquarters  of  the  Prussian  Army,  most  encourag- 
ingly of  our  service  : 

11 1  therefore  went  back  via  Sedan  to  Brussels,  then 
to  Switzerland,  Southern  Germany  and  across  to 
Vienna,  then  down  to  Hungary,  then  down  the  Danube 


20 

to  Servia,  Wallachia,  and  Bulgarian  Turkey,  visiting 
Bucharest  the  capital  of  Boumania,  thence  crossed  the 
Black  Sea  to  Constantinople.  From  Constantinople  I 
visited  Greece,  from  thence  I  went  to  Sicily,  then  up 
to  Naples.  On  this  trip  I  saw  the  soldiers  of  all  these 
countries,  saw  much  of  the  people,  and  was  most  po- 
litely and  charmingly  received  everywhere,  although 
not  seeking  anything  of  the  kind,  in  fact  avoiding  it 
because  I  wanted  as  much  personal  liberty  as  possible 
so  that  I  might  see  as  much  as  I  could  in  the  short 
space  of  time  I  had  given  myself.  I  reached  Eome  on 
the  evening  of  the  24th  and  will  work  my  way  back  to 
Paris  but  not  before  the  surrender.  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  will  approve  this  trip  of  mine,  but  I  never 
expect  to  see  Europe  again  and  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  to  make  it.  I  am  fully  satisfied  that  there 
is  no  nation  in  Europe  which  has  so  perfect  an  army 
system  as  ourselves ;  they  have  more  perfect  systems 
for  raising  troops,  but  I  am  satisfied  their  staff  systems 
are  not  so  good  as  ours. 

"  I  will  start  home  in  the  latter  part  of  February  if 
possible.  I  would  like  to  visit  St.  Petersburg  but  am 
afraid  I  should  not  remain  so  long  absent. 

"  I  find  that  but  little  can  be  learned  here  to  benefit 
our  service.  We  are  far  ahead  in  skill  and  campaign 
organization.  Europe  is  far  ahead  of  us  only  in  the 
military  organization  that  makes  nearly  every  man  a 
soldier,  and  the  facility  of  that  organization  in  quickly 
putting  hundreds  of  thousands  into  the  field.  So  far 
as  organization  for  re-clothing,  transportation  of  sup- 
plies, and  general  comfort  of  the  troops,  we  are  so  far 
ahead  as  to  make  comparison  almost  ridiculous." 

One  other  thing  he  knew,  and  knowing  did.  He 
knew  the  value  of  drill,  and  every  considerable  rest 
was  utilized.  His  command,  therefore,  was  not  merely 
well  fed,  well  clothed,  well  cared  for  ;  it  also  was  well 
drilled. 

These  were  the  individual  qualities,  therefore,  he 
brought  as  his  own  contribution  to  the  work  of  each 
command  he  was  entrusted  with. 


21 

He  knew  how  to  care  for  his  men  in  food  and  cloth- 
ing, camps  and  drill  ;  he  knew  the  country  to  be  fought 
in  and  the  forces  and  manoeuvres  of  the  enemy ;  he 
knew  his  men  also,  and  knew  these  things,  all  of  them, 
as  things  are  known,  which  one  has  worked  at  with 
strong  sympathetic  interest  and  is  perfectly  at  home 
with.  That  sort  of  interest  it  is  which  makes  a  man 
spontaneous!}7  industrious,  and  all  these  were,  of 
course,  the  fruits  of  industry.  Among  the  glimpses  of 
his  West  Point  life  is  one  of  his  window  darkened  at 
night  with  a  blanket  that  he  might  pursue  his  studies 
after  the  lights  were  ordered  out.  It  is  written  of  Jero- 
boam that  he  was  "  a  mighty  man  of  valor."  "  And 
"  Solomon,  seeing  the  young  man,  that  he  was  indus- 
"  trious,  he  made  him  ruler  over  all  the  charge  of  the 
"  house  of  Joseph."  The  wisdom  of  Solomon  is  sup- 
plemented by  the  inspiration  of  St.  Paul,  whose  pre- 
cept to  all  rulers  is,  "  with  diligence." 

At  a  later  day  General  Sheridan  went  with  General 
Grant  on  a  trip  to  Mexico.  One  of  his  staff  officers 
tells  me  that  he  came  back  with  knowledge  enough  of 
Mexico,  its  topography  and  geography,  its  people  and 
their  institutions,  to  have  taken  charge,  if  need  be,  of 
that  country  and  intelligently  governed  it. 

All  these  features  of.  his  varied  information — his 
knowledge  of  the  country  in  which  at  any  time  he 
fought,  his  shrewd  selection  of  scouts,  his  knowledge 
of  his  men,  his  constant  provision  for  their  comfort 
when  in  camp,  were  but  so  many  aspects  of  his  own 
personal  interest  in  the  life  that  was  around  him.  By 
all  of  these  means  that  interest  made  victory  easier,  and 
gave  him  freedom  from  mistake,  and  larger  range,  and 


22 

quicker  knowledge  of  the  things  that  might,  or  must  be 
done. 

Behind  these  lay  a  higher  quality  that  was  the  final 
feature  of  the  man.  It  is  not  easy  to  pass  confidently 
to  this  next  and  last  essential  of  that  character  (for  it 
was  character)  that  gave  him  victory  where  defeat  was 
natural,  and  so  gave  to  his  own  worth  the  value  of  the 
difference  between  victory  and  defeat.  It  is  not  a 
merely  imaginative  exercise  to  discern  how  from  the 
very  first  his  earnest  interest  in  the  life  at  hand  fostered 
at  once  this  confidence  and  power.  In  the  store  and 
on  the  plains  it  had  led  (perhaps  driven)  him  to 
know  the  things  about  him,  and  to  make  the  knowing 
incidental  only  to  the  doing  The  habit  came  with  this 
of  doing  in  a  way  that  is  akin  to  driving.  The  forward 
impulse  thus  became  habitual,  and  brought  with  it  an 
experience  of  decision.  The  habit  of  deciding  what  to 
do  and  doing  it,  needs  only  to  be  prepared  by 
circumstances  and  tempered  by  unselfishness  to  grow 
to  any  opportunity.  At  Boonville,  ( capture  seemed 
to  be  inevitable ;  at  Cedar  Creek  his  army  was 
already  routed,  when  his  famous  ride  brought  him 
upon  the  field.  Plainly,  it  was  not  any  of  the  things 
he  knew  that  chiefly  gave  him  triumph  over  both  of 
these  emergencies.  It  was  his  keeping  to  that  wondrous 
way  that  leads  between  the  recklessness  that  does  not 
think,  and  hesitancy  that  mistakenly  regards  disaster 
as  a  greater  evil  than  default.  It  was  this  way  of  look- 
ing at  things,  and  of  thinking,  which,  at  Boonville  and 
at  Cedar  Creek,  led  him  away  from  what  might  happen, 
and  had  happened,  to  where  he  saw  only  the  things 
that  might  be  done.  The  things  he  knew  helped  him, 
as  I  have  said  ;  the  difference  in  each  instance  between 


23 

victory  and  defeat  lay  mainly  in  the  fact  that,  instead 
of  yielding  to  the  backward  impulse  of  the  situation,  he 
drove  it  with  a  forward  impulse  moving  from  himself. 

For  this  he  must  first  have  been  cool  enough  to  think. 

Napoleon  says  with  regard  to  this  : 

The  first  quality  of  a  General-in-Chief  is  to  be  cool 
headed,  to  estimate  things  at  their  just  value  ;  he  must 
not  be  moved  by  good  or  bad  news.  The  sensations 
that  he  daily  receives  must  be  so  closed  in  his  mind 
that  each  may  occupy  its  appropriate  place.  Reason 
and  judgment  are  only  the  result  of  the  comparison  of 
well  weighed  ideas. * 

1  do  not  know  how  I  can  better  express  the  truth  as  to  the 
character  of  Sheridan  in  this  regard  than  by  quoting 
again  from  General  Pope  : 

"  Before  I  came  to  know  him  by  personal  associa- 
tion I  shared  what  was  then  (as  I  believe  it  is  now  with 
most  of  his  countrymen)  the  opinion  that  he  was  simply 
an  impetuous,  reckless  soldier,  full  of  dash  and  gallant 
to  the  extreme  of  rashness,  in  short,  simply  a  splendid 
specimen  of  a  cavalry  officer  of  the  '  Murat '  order. 

"  There  never  was  a  greater  mistake.  Impetuous  he 
was,  certainly,  but  it  was  only  impetuous  execution  of 
deliberate  and  well  considered  plans.  In  all  his  life  he 
did  not  do  any  important  act  without  careful  consider- 
tion  beforehand.  Neither  in  civil  administration  in  time 
of  profound  peace,  nor  in  the  roar  and  fury  of  battle, 
did  he  ever  act  except  on  well  defined  lines  and  clearly 
conceived  purposes." 

His  coming  on  the  field  at  Cedar  Creek  after  his  ride 
from  Winchester  has  often  been  regarded  as  a  species 
of  apocalypse,  immediately  succeeded  by  a  rush  and 
charge  like  the  repulsion  of  a  great  wave  by  a  rock  ;  and 


From  a  translation  by  Lt.  Col.  A.  K.  Arnold,  U.  S.  A. 


24 

his  careering  down  his  line  before  the  charge  is  spoken 
of  as  if  that  were  the  first  thing  he  did  and  its  essential 
feature.  He  himself  says  of  his  first  appearance  on 
the  field  : 

"  As  I  continued  at  a  walk  a  few  hundred  yards 
further,  thinking  all  the  time  of  Longstreet's  tele- 
gram to  Early :  *  be  ready  when  I  join  you,  and  we 
will  crush  Sheridan,'  I  was  fixing  in  my  mind  what  I 
would  do." 

He  says  of  himself  a  short  time  afterward,  "  I  had 
already  determined  to  attack  the  enemy  from  that  line 
as  soon  as  I  could  get  matters  in  shape  to  take  the 
offensive." 

His  riding  down  the  line  did  not  occur  to  him  until 
it  was  suggested  to  him  by  Major  Forsyth.  He  says  : 

"  Major  Forsyth  now  suggested  that  it  would  be  well 
to  ride  along  the  line  of  battle  before  the  enemy  as- 
sailed us,  for  although  the  troops  had  learned  of  my 
return,  but  few  of  them  had  seen  me.  Following  his 
suggestion  I  started  in  behind  the  men,  but  when  a  few 
paces  had  been  taken  I  crossed  to  the  front,  and,  hat  in 
hand,  passed  along  the  entire  length  of  the  infantry 
line  ;  and  it  is  from  this  circumstance  that  many  of  the 
officers  and  men  who  then  received  me  with  such  heart- 
iness have  since  supposed  that  was  my  first  appearance 
on  the  field.  But  at  least  two  hours  had  elapsed  since 
I  reached  the  ground." 

Closely  allied  to  this  was  that  in  him  which  brought 
about  that  neither  being  outnumbered,  as  at  Boonville, 
nor  cruel  losses,  as  at  Perryville,  could  drive  him  from 
the  field  he  thought  he  ought  to  hold.  "  Before  ceding 
victory,  wait  until  it  is  snatched  from  you,"  said  Na- 
poleon, "  before  retiring,  wait  until  you  are  forced." 
General  Grant's  well-remembered  letter  to  his  father  is 
to  the  same  effect.  He  wrote  to  him  from  before  Vicks- 


25 

burg  that  he  did  not  think  an  army  under  him  would 
often  be  defeated,  for  the  reason  that  he  should  not 
accept  the  fact  till  the  last  hope  was  gone.  The  ground 
upon  which  Sheridan  often  and  expressly  puts  this,  is 
that  the  ground  once  lost  must  be  recovered  at  the  cost 
of  lives  of  officers  and  men  ;  and  that  in  Avar  the  only 
real  compensation  for  the  loss  of  life  is  victory.  In  this 
he  shows  again  his  old-time  sympathetic  interest  in  the 
life  in  which  he  was  concerned. 

The  same  view  doubtless  made  him  feel  that  the  last 
results  of  victory  must  be  gathered.  I  am  told  by 
Gen.  Dodge,  who  knew  both  officers  extremely  well, 
that  General  Grant  did  not  enjoy  the  willingness  of 
General  Sheridan  to  be  relieved  from  his  command  at 
Corinth,  and  to  go  to  General  Eosecrans  in  Tennessee, 
and  was  not  cordial  towards  him  until  at  Mission  Kidge 
he  witnessed  Sheridan's  division,  not  merely  carrying 
the  ridge,  but  pressing  the  pursuit  far  in  advance,  and 
until  stopped  by  night.  All  feeling  then  became  sup- 
planted by  fixed  admiration,  so  that  when  Halleck  after- 
wards suggested  Sheridan  for  Chief  of  Cavalry  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  it  cost  General  Grant  no  effort 
to  reply,  "  He  is  the  very  man  I  want." 

It  is  pleasant  to  see  that  this  earnestness  was  really 
humane.  In  his  report  to  the  Committee  on  the  Con- 
duct of  the  War,  he  says,  doubtless  with  reference  to  the 
valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  "  I  do  not  believe  war  to  be 
simply  that  lines  should  engage  each  other  in  battle, 
as  that  is  only  the  duello  part,  a  part  which  would  be 
kept  up  so  long  as  those  who  live  at  home  in  peace  and 
plenty  could  find  the  best  youth  of  the  country  to  enlist 
in  their  cause  (I  say  the  best,  for  the  bravest  are  always 
the  best),  and  therefore  do  not  regret  the  system  of 


•20 

living  on  the  enemy's  country.  These  men  and  women 
did  not  care  how  many  were  killed  or  maimed  so  long 
as  war  did  not  come  to  their  door.  But  as  soon  as  it 
did  come  in  the  shape  of  loss  of  property,  they  earnestly 
prayed  for  its  termination.  As  war  is  punishment,  and 
death  the  maximum  punishment,  if  we  can,  by  reducing 
its  advocates  to  poverty,  end  it  quicker,  we  are  on  the 
side  of  humanity."  In  the  same  spirit  in  1886,  he 
wrote  to  General  J.  B.  Gordon  with  regard  to  a 
national  home  for  disabled  Confederate  soldiers  : 

"  It  is  not  proposed  by  your  communication,  nor  by 
the  circular,  that  the  Government  should  take  any  steps 
in  this  direction.  Such  private  effort  as  is  found  best 
suited  to  the  situation  may,  however,  be  made  by  every 
citizen.  *  *  It  would  give  me  great  satisfaction 

to  aid,  in  an  humble  way,  the  brave  men  who  opposed 
us  in  battle." 

How  natural  that  a  great  soldier  with  this  generous 
mind  should  forecast  in  heart  the  day  when  war  shall 
be  supplanted  by  the  contests  of  opinion  and  the  sym- 
pathies. At  Philadelphia,  in  1887,  at  the  centennial  of 
the  signing  of  the  Constitution,  he  gave  his  judgment 
of  the  large  result  to  come  from  the  progressive  increase 
in  efficiency  of  weapons. 

"  There  is  one  thing  that  you  should  appreciate,  and 
that  is  that  the  improvement  in  guns  and  in  the  ma- 
terial of  war,  in  dynamite  and  other  explosives,  and  in 
breech-loading  guns,  is  rapidly  bringing  us  to  a  period 
when  war  will  eliminate  itself  ;  when  we  can  no  longer 
stand  up  and  fight  each  other  in  battle,  and  when  we 
will  have  to  resort  to  something  else.  Now,  what  will 
that  '  something  else  '  be  ?  It  will  be  arbitration.  I 
mean  what  I  say  when  I  express  the  belief  that  if  any 
one  now  present  here  could  live  until  the  next  centen- 
nial he  would  find  that  arbitration  will  rule  the  world." 

God  grant  he  can  see  it  then,  from  everlasting  life ! 


27 

It  is  not  necessary  to  an  estimate  of  Sheridan  to  cata- 
logue or  to  delineate  his  triumphs,  or  to  contrast  his 
share  or  prominence  with  those  of  others  in  suppressing 
the  Rebellion.  The  battles  of  the  Opequan  (or  Win- 
chester) and  Fisher's  Hill,  and  Cedar  Creek,  his  career 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  these  are  familiar  his- 
tory. Of  the  close  of  the  war  it  is  enough  to  recall 
that  it  was  he  who  rode  on  the  30th  of  March  eight 
miles  through  rain  and  mud  knee  deep  to  dissuade 
General  Grant  from  letting  rain  and  mud  prevent  the 
forward  movement  from  commencing  that  same  day. 
April  2.  three  days  later,  at  Dinwiddie,  his  command, 
on  the  right  and  rear  of  Lee's  Army,  had  cut  off  from 
that  army  Pickett's  command,  amounting  almost  to  an 
army  corps,  and  had  at  the  same  time  cut  off  Lee  from 
Richmond  and  compelled  him  to  leave  Petersburg. 
April  6,  three  days  later,  at  Sailor's  Creek  he  had 
further  depleted  Lee's  Army  by  the  capture  of  Swell's 
Corps,  making  prisoners  six  generals  and  nine  or  ten 
thousand  men  with  the  further  attempt  of  cutting  off 
Lee's  attempted  retreat  via  Danville,  so  that  the 
Lynchburgh  route  alone  remained  by  which  Lee  might 
retreat  before  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  his 
front.  All  day  the  eighth  of  April  his  command 
was  moving  parallel  with  Lee's  retreating  columns 
and  dashing  in  where  opportunity  appeared.  The 
forays  of  the  day  gave  him  large  captures,  and  night 
found  him  in  advance  of  Lee's  retreat,  at  Appomattox 
Station,  in  possession  of  Lee's  supply  trains  and  astride 
the  Lynchburgh  Railroad.  All  night  long  General  Ord, 
with  the  Army  of  the  James,  and  General  Griffin  with 
the  Fifth  Corps,  were  hurrying  to  his  aid.  The  day 
of  Appomattox  dawned  upon  Ord's  troops  just  coming 


28 

into  line  behind  the  cavalry  of  Ouster.  Lee  made 
his  last  attack  upon  that  cavalry,  and  as  they  sep- 
arated to  the  right  and  left  disclosing  that  the  Lynch- 
burgh  road  was  held  not  by  themselves  alone,  but  by 
the  Army  of  the  James  in  force  behind  them  ;  the 
struggle  ended  and  Lee's  flag  of  truce  appeared  in  front 
of  Ouster's  lines.  To  claim  for  this  more  than  the 
simple  facts  and  their  necessary  incidents  of  personal 
character  and  endeavor  would  be  false  to  the  memory 
of  Sheridan,  because  so  unlike  him. 

To  relate  his  public  services  immediately  following 
the  War  would  be  as  much  beyond  my  scope  as  to 
recount  his  victories.  His  task  of  bringing  back  to 
civil  order  and  to  real  union,  States  which  had  not  laid 
down  the  rebellion  but  had  merely  laid  down  their 
arms,  his  wise  and  energetic  firmness,  the  wrath  of 
Andrew  Johnson  and  his  recall  of  Sheridan,  these  are 
a  part  of  public  history.  His  first  contact,  however,  in 
New  Orleans  with  the  White  League,  then  in  control  of 
Louisiana  and  determined  on  political  control,  brought 
out  at  once  his  courage  and  his  kindliness  and  on  the 
new  stage  of  civil  life  disclosed  once  more  the  value  of 
his  personal  character  to  any  cause  he  was  connected 
with.  The  evening  of  the  very  day  of  his  arrival  at 
New  Orleans  a  violent  meeting,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  White  League,  was  held  in  the  rotunda  of  the 
St.  Charles  Hotel.  A  stage  had  been  improvised  of 
dry  goods  boxes,  and  from  this  the  orator  addressed  the 
mob,  seeking  to  inflame  their  minds  to  the  point  of 
resistance  to  the  "  bloody  Sheridan."  The  uproar 
penetrated  to  the  rooms  occupied  by  the  General,  and 
was  notice  to  him  that  he  had  a  difficult  and  dangerous 
task  before  him. 


29 

He  said  quietly  lie  would  like  to  take  a  look  at  the 
mob,  and  lie  believed  lie  would  go  and  get  a  segar. 
Taking  a  small  rattan  cane,  and  telling  Colonel  Forsythe 
to  put  a  pistol  in  his  pocket  and  follow  him,  he  started 
for  the  office  of  the  hotel.  As  he  slowly  descended 
the  great  stairway,  the  most  violent  of  the  orators  was 
denouncing  the  Union  General  and  calling  upon  his 
hearers  to  resist  and  thwart  him.  Suddenly  some  of 
those  below  caught  sight  of  the  compact  figure  on  the 
stairs,  and  taking  in  its  humorous  aspect  began  to 
laugh.  The  orator,  disturbed  by  the  movement,  looked 
round  for  the  cause,  and  following  the  direction  in 
which  all  eyes  were  turned,  he,  too,  saw  the  General 
approaching  with  great  deliberation,  and  leaping  from 
the  platform  he  fled  from  the  hotel.  &!&£**> 

My  informant,  and  other  leaders  were  greatly 
alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the  General,  and  as  he  made 
his  way  through  the  crowd  they  surrounded  him  to 
protect  him  from  the  more  reckless  spirits,  well  know- 
ing that  an  assault  on  the  representative  of  the  Gov- 
ernment would  lead  to  the  destruction  of  the  State. 
Sheridan,  unconscious  of  this  attention,  made  his  way 
to  the  segar  stand,  and,  having  bought  and  lighted  a 
segar,  turned  quietly  round  and  surveyed  the  excited 
crowd  with  the  most  perfect  composure.  This  display 
of  cool  courage  worked  an  instant  revolution.  The 
leaders  of  the  League  directly  addressed  the  General, 
and,  expressing  their  admiration  of  what  they  had  just 
witnessed,  said  frankly  that  they  would  like  to  confer 
writh  him  with  a  view  to  reach  a  peaceful  settlement. 

"  Come  to  my  rooms,  gentlemen,"  said  Sheridan, 
and,  leading  the  way,  he  was  soon  pointing  out  to  them 
the  futility  and  danger  to  society  of  violent  resistance 


30 

to  law.  They  discussed  the  situation  far  into  the 
night,  and  did  not  separate  until  a  plan  had  been 
formed,  in  which  all  acquiesced,  for  restoring  order. 
"  That  display  of  courage,"  said  my  informant,  "  com- 
pelled instant  admiration  and  confidence,  and  saved 
Louisiana  from  the  horrors  of  a  bloody  strife." 

A  less  familiar  episode,  but  of  enormous  consequence, 
came  later.  In  monarchical  Europe  the  breaking  out 
of  our  Rebellion  was  seized  upon  as  the  downfall  of 
self-government. 

The  greatest  of  English  historians  did  not  hesitate 
to  formally  entitle  a  work  as  "  A  History  of  Federal 
"  Government  from  the  foundation  of  the  Achaian 
"  League  to  the  disruption  of  the  United  States,"* 
and  the  Emperor  of  Charlatans,  Napoleon  the 
Little,  full  of  the  same  faith,  undertook  to  supplant 
the  Republic  of  Mexico  with  a  pseudo-empire,  rest- 
ing on  a  corps  of  the  French  Army,  appropriately 
commanded  by  Bazaine.  The  natural  sympathy 
between  this  enterprise  and  the  Rebellion  made  them  at 
once,  in  utter  violation  of  all  neutral  rights,  reciprocal 
allies  in  everything  but  open  war.  The  Rio  Grande 
River  and  the  ports  of  Mexico  became  the  field  of  large 
exchanges  of  Confederate  cotton  for  arms,  munitions 
and  supplies,  such  as  materially  strengthened  the  re- 
bellion and  prolonged  the  war.  No  one  more  fully 
realized  this  than  General  Grant.  As  early  as  when 
General  Sherman  came  to  City  Point,  and  General  Sheri- 
dan was  also  there,  the  course  of  the  French  was  de- 
nounced as  having  made  the  war  in  Mexico  inseparable 


*  Vol.  I.  was  published  in  1863.     The  second  has  not  yet  appeared 


31 

from  the  Rebellion,  and  the  French  in  Mexico  our  ene- 
mies in  everything  but  open  war.  It  is  pleasant  to 
know  that  this  righteous  indignation  was  eventually 
the  means  of  driving  out  the  French  and  of  reviving 
the  Kepublic. 

In  the  summer  of  1865,  the  party  of  free  government 
in  Mexico  was  overthrown  and  scattered,  the  Monar- 
chists apparently  supreme,  and  Maximilian  travelling 
through  his  empire  regulating  the  new  social  institu- 
tions. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Sheridan,  in  Texas  and  at 
New  Orleans,  had  closed  out  the  Rebellion.  On  the  25th 
of  July,  1865,  General  Grant  wrote  to  him  confidentially 
as  follows,  with  regard  to  the  French  in  Mexico  : 

*  *  *  I  have  written  my  views  to  the  President 
and  had  conversation  with  him  on  the  subject.  In  all 
that  relates  to  Mexican  affairs  he  agrees  in  the  duty  we 
owe  to  ourselves  to  maintain  the  Monroe  doctrine  both 
as  a  principle  and  a  security  for  our  future  peace.  On 
the  Rio  Grande,  or  in  Texas,  convenient  to  get  there, 
we  must  have  a  large  amount  of  surrendered  ordnance 
and  ordnance  stores,  or  such  articles  accumulating  from 
discharging  men  who  leave  these  things  behind,  without 
special  orders  to  do  so,  send  none  of  these  back,  but 
rather  place  them  convenient  to  be  permitted  to  go  into 
Mexico,  if  they  can  be  got  into  the  hands  of  the  defend- 
ers of  the  only  government  we  recognize  in  that  country. 

It  is  a  fixed  determination  on  the  part  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  and  I  think  myself  safe  in  saying,  on 
the  part  of  the  President  also,  that  an  Empire  shall  not 
be  established  on  this  continent  by  the  aid  of  foreign 
bayonets.  A  war  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  is  to 
be  ^avoided,  if  possible ;  but,  it  will  be  better  to  go  to 
war  now,  when  but  little  aid  given  to  the  Mexicans  will 
settle  the  question,  than  to  have  in  prospect  a  greater 
war,  sure  to  come  if  delayed  until  the  Empire  is  estab- 
lished. 

We  want  then  to  aid  the  Mexicans  without  giving 
cause  of  war  between  the  United  States  and  France. 


32 

Between  the  would-be  Empire  of  Maximilian  and  the 
United  States,  all  difficulty  can  easily  be  settled  by  ob- 
serving the  same  sort  of  neutrality  that  has  been  ob- 
served towards  us  for  the  last  four  years. 

With  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  before  you 
however,  that  the  greatest  desire  is  felt  to  see  the  Liberal 
government  restored  in  Mexico,  and  that  no  doubt  ex- 
ists of  the  strict  justice  of  our  right  to  demand  this, 
and  enforce  the  demand  with  the  whole  strength  of  the 
United  States,  your  own  judgment  gives  you  a  basis  of 
action  that  will  aid  you. 


Sheridan's  personal  memoirs  show  that  he  was  already 
hard  at  work.  He  began  by  arresting  a  large  migra- 
tion of  the  ex- Confederates,  whom  the  whole  South  was 
encouraging  to  join  the  forces  of  Maximilian.  Troops 
were  next  gathered  on  the  Rio  Grande,  and  formal 
communication  opened  there  with  Juarez,  and  scouts 
were  sent  to  ostentatiously  inquire  what  supplies 
Northern  Mexico  could  furnish  to  the  forces  under 
Sheridan.  The  direct  effect  of  all  this  was  that  the 
French  withdrew  from  Northern  Mexico.  The  Liberals 
flocked  in  and  there  reorganized  their  army.  Then 
cannon,  small  arms  and  ammunition  enough  in  all,  per- 
haps, for  fifty  thousand  men  were  carelessly  left  by 
Sheridan  along  the  Bio  Grande,  where  the  Liberals 
yielded  to  temptation  and  helped  themselves  at  will. 
The  Minister  of  France  at  Washington  protested  vigor- 
ously with  just  the  same  result  that  our  protests 
achieved  while  yet  the  French  in  Mexico  were  helping 
the  rebellion.  The  Liberals  and  the  Monroe  doctrine 
were  too  much  for  them,  and  the  Republic  rules  in 
Mexico  to-day  revived  by  the  United  States  in  partial 
compensation  for  the  war  of  1846. 

Two  or  three  matters  themselves  far  from  incidental, 
can  receive  only  incidental  mention. 


33 

It  goes  without  saying  that  a  sympathy  so  earnest, 
always  exacting  of  itself  results,  produced  a  character 
that  rose  above  mere  common  honesty  to  high  integ- 
rity of  purpose.  When  he  came  East  to  the  field  of 
war  from  Oregon,  his  first  assignments  were  as  Quarter- 
master and  as  Commissary,  in  Missouri,  and  he  came 
at  once  in  contact  with  the  pecuniary  contaminations 
which  at  that  time  and  place  affected  the  supply  depart- 
ments of  the  army.  With  him,  to  come  in  contact  was  to 
come  in  conflict  with  them,  and  the  speedy  result  was  his 
summary  removal  out  of  that  military  department. 
When  after  the  war  he  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  and  a 
subservient  countenance  of  dishonest  methods  was  re- 
quired of  him,  in  a  protest  which  this  drew  from  him  with 
reference  to  the  conduct  of  Governor  Wells,  he  wrote 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  "  I  say  again  that  he  is  dis- 
"  honest,  and  that  dishonesty  is  more  than  must  be 
"  expected  of  me."  Ten  years  afterwards  he  wrote  to 
General  Sherman  from  Chicago  : 

I  am  and  have  always  been  faithful  in  thought  and 
word  to  my  lawful  commander — even  independent  of 
the  warm  personal  friendship  and  admiration  I  have  for 
you.  I  have  been  repaid  for  all  this  by  fairness  in  the 
exercise  of  your  authority,  and  by  reciprocal  friend- 
ship. I  have  built  up  my  present  division, 
have  been  connected  with  the  great  development  of  the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  Eiver  by  protecting 
every  interest  so  far  as  in  my  power,  and  in  a  fair  and 
honorable  way,  without  acquiring  a  single  personal 
interest  to  mar  or  blur  myself  or  my  profession. 

When  he  wrote  of  himself  that  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war  he  was  desirous  of  opportunity  but  not  dream- 
ing of  high  rank,  for  he  stated  the  whole  truth.  When 
in  May,  1862,  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the 
Second  Michigan  Cavalry,  some  one  expressed  to  him 


34 

the  hope  that  the  star  of  a  brigadier  was  not  distant  in 
point  of  time.  His  repty  was,  "  No,  I  thank  you  ;  I  am 
now  a  colonel  of  cavalry,  and  have  all  the  rank  I  want." 
Eepeatedly  afterwards  he  submitted  without  complaint 
to  withdrawal  of  troops  from  his  immediate  command 
and  to  subordination  of  himself  without  any  of  those 
resulting  quarrels  which  so  often  embittered  the  co- 
operating forces  on  either  side  during  the  war.  In  one 
instance  this  evoked  a  spontaneous  tribute  even  from 
the  taciturnity  of  General  Grant.  In  the  Valley  of  the 
Shenandoah  Sheridan  had  been  supreme.  Flushed 
with  the  victories  of  the  Opequan,  of  Fisher's  Hill 
and  Cedar  Creek,  still  when  his  work  was  done  he  at 
once  moved  his  army  eastward  to  join  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  General  Grant  met  him  with  the  remark  that 
it  was  not  often  that  an  army  commander  would  let  go 
in  that  way  his  independence,  adding  that  he  should 
not  suffer  for  it.  A  little  army  was  made  up  for  him 
consisting  of  the  cavalry,  and  other  troops  from  time  to 
time  assigned  to  him  by  General  Grant.  With  this  he 
compassed  all  his  share  in  what  was  done  thereafter. 

Having  heard  both  General  Grant  and  General  Sher- 
man speak  freely  with  regard  to  his  relieving  General 
Warren,  I  may  say  that  each  expressed  the  same  clear 
recognition  both  of  the  necessity  and  what  created  it. 
A  caution  that  amounted  to  a  want  of  faith  in  his  supe- 
riors repeatedly  led  General  Warren  to  reply  to  a  com- 
mand to  move,  with  a  demand  to  be  assured  that  his 
flanks  were  protected,  or  that  other  duties  incident  to 
giving  the  command  had  been  performed.  More  than 
once  the  delay  thus  arising  resulted  in  a  loss  of  the  de- 
sired result  amounting  to  a  virtual  disobedience  in  a  gal- 
lant, skillful  officer  and  noble,  excellent  man.  General 


35 

Sherman  is  my  authority  in  saying  that  at  Spottsylvania 
General  Grant  had  this  experience  with  General  War- 
ren in  a  way  that  fixed  in  his  own  mind  a  sense  of  the 
necessity  of  acting  at  once  upon  any  similar  occasion, 
and  that  led  him  in  advance  of  that  occasion  to  give 
General  Sheridan  authority  to  do  as  he  afterwards  did 
just  after  Five  Forks.  General  Grant,  indeed  had  said 
to  Genera]  Warren,  "  Warren,  I  think  you  ought  to  trust 
me  for  a  few  things."  Sheridan's  command  was  ex- 
posed to  the  whole  of  Lee's  army.  What  was  at  once 
rapid  and  rash  might  be  required  of  him  at  any  moment 
and  the  fate  of  his  command  turn  on  its  instant  execu- 
tion. He  had  to  choose  between  the  situation  and  the 
man.  He  never  spared  himself  in  such  a  choice.  In 
his  whole  life  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  at  any 
time  mistook  his  personal  resentment  for  a  sense  of 
duty. 

This  little  grouping  of  facts  has  disclosed  to  us  how  a 
strenuous  and  sympathetic  interest  in  any  life  with 
which  he  was  concerned,  by  reason  of  its  being  strenuous 
enough  to  bring  him  to  the  outcome  of  results,  first 
made  a  lad  of  fourteen  busy  and  intelligent,  and  so  both 
valued  and  respected.  Next,  how  that  self-same 
sympathetic  interest,  always  pushing  to  the  outcome, 
carried  him  into  the  service  of  his  country  and  there 
qualified  him  with  accomplishments  which  gave  him 
personality  and  with  confidence  that  gave  him  force. 
How  the  same  feeling  that  so  made  him  one  with  all 
the  life  about  him  made  him  true  to  all  of  it,  and  how 
this  truth  and  skill  and  confidence  wrought  out  the  life 
that  brings  us  here  for  its  commemoration.  All  these 
progressive  glimpses  of  that  life  have  shown  no  trace 
of  fault  not  overcome.  Let  me  say  here  with  regard 


36 

to  nil  de  morluis  nisi  bonum  that  the  great  men  of 
antiquity  from  whom  that  adage  emanated  were  not 
fools  nor  insincere.  Life  is  a  process  of  assimilation, 
whether  it  be  the  life  of  consciousness  or  physical. 
When  the  loved  and  admired  have  left  us,  and  we 
gather  in  commemoration,  that  is  but  a  seizing  back 
from  death  of  so  much  as  we  may  before  he  has  it  safe 
in  his  deposit  of  oblivion.  What  we  thus  seize  we 
store  within  ourselves,  and  influenced  by  it  grow  in  our 
degree  into  its  like.  A  second  value  then  has  come 
to  it,  in  that  our  dead  now  lives  again  in  us,  the  highest 
tribute  gratitude  and  love  can  pay.  What  shall  we 
seize  from  death,  then,  but  that  which  is  good  ? 
What  image  shall  we  build  of  a  dead  friend  in  our  own 
lives  except  an  image  of  him  at  his  best,  and  stripped 
of  everything  which  he  would  willingly  have  dropped  ? 
The  men  who  made  the  maxim  knew  the  grace  of  life 
that  might  be  kept  from  death,  and  the  new  life  that 
love  could  give  the  good  things  of  the  dead.  This  life 
that  we  have  studied  offers  opportunity  to  say  these 
things  without  embarrassment,  because  it  was — no,  let 
me  say  it  is — so  fit  to  follow.  A  life  that  acted  out  its 
kindly  sympathies,  and  proved  that  only  this,  done 
mightily  and  with  judicious  balance  of  all  rights,  is 
necessary  to  the  character  that  rises  to  all  needs — and 
if  need  be  can  handle  armies  or  secure  a  pony  for  a 
boy — can  retain  equally  the  love  of  a  charming  family 
and  of  this  great  nation  ;  this  is  the  life,  that  in  its 
death,  may  plead  for  other  dead  that  only  good  may 
live  concerning  them. 


[25308] 

May  28,  '89.— 30. 


